Meg Whitman said Thursday that California's new budget is not the solution to the state's fiscal challenges.

(CNN) – Meg Whitman, a Republican candidate for governor in California, is not a fan of the new budget just passed by the state’s legislature.

The budget “is not the solution,” Whitman said in a statement Thursday. “Instead of respecting taxpayers and championing job creation, Sacramento is increasing taxes on the middle class. The proposed budget will kill jobs, hurt families and make future deficits even worse."

Whitman, the former President and CEO of eBay, also opposed the nearly $800 billion stimulus bill recently passed by Congress and signed into law by the President.

If successful in her gubernatorial bid, Whitman will succeed fellow Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who praised the California legislature’s passage of the state’s budget.

soundoff(106 Responses)

Jane in Nevada

So many of our states are now experiencing budget crises and cannot afford to continue even some of the most basic of functions.
The state of California has one of the largest economies in the world and is struggling to meet its obligations.
In times of extreme distress, the states should be able to count on the federal government for help. In this instance, we're talking about one heck of a state. The collapse of the Californian economy would be devastating, affecting nearly every state in our union.

Such simple-minded answers as cutting taxes and trying to avoid government intervention at all costs is absurd.
If businesses are not making profits, how will reducing their taxes help?
If people cannot find employment and have no income, they are not likely concerned about their tax rates being too high.

The Republicans like to believe that good samaritans will step forward from the private sector and take steps to help others. They like to tell us that government doesn't need to step in, that we should rely on our own communities to pull together and ensure no one is left stranded.
Those are nice ideals.
Those ideals do not match reality.
In reality, when we give money to the wealthy, they take it and hide it away where Uncle Sam can't come find it. (UBS anyone?)

In a nation the size of ours (and in a state the size of California), when times are this tough, we cannot sit back and hope some mystery philanthropists or angel investors will come along and offer us a private sector solution.
When the private sector had its way, it proved them to be concerned with shareholder values, not community responsibility. And, in a capitalist society, who can blame them? It isn't their concern.

February 19, 2009 06:01 pm at 6:01 pm |

Brian L

What are your plans???? Cut taxes for the Rich...... they already have enough money to pay people (UBS) to hide their money to NOT pay any taxes!

February 19, 2009 06:05 pm at 6:05 pm |

Ex-Republican

naqib February 19th, 2009 5:41 pm ET

Decades of Democrat rule have created California… Good luck… I suggest you move to Phoenix.
-----------------

Ok, that's just plain funny. You use Phoenix as a role model? The foreclosure poster child of the country? Nice comparison.

Granted, Ca has been managed poorly. But just to remind you, Reagan failed in Ca as well.

February 19, 2009 06:06 pm at 6:06 pm |

LM

Won't be voting for her when runs for Governor. Don't care if she's a woman. We need someone that will be for the people and not for their political party.

I hope Attorney General JERRY BROWN will run for governor again!!!!

February 19, 2009 06:08 pm at 6:08 pm |

Luke Brown

The only reason anyone is paying attention to her is that she is a rich. This is just what the country needs .... another rich Republican who has no clue.

February 19, 2009 06:08 pm at 6:08 pm |

Nadine

Tell that to the 20,000 state employees that just got pink slips, or the tax payers in California who are right now receiving IOU's instead of tax refunds, I could go on but this is just lame what the current GOP and Republican theme seems to be: Just say no.

February 19, 2009 06:11 pm at 6:11 pm |

Sniffit

@ Matthew, Detroit

You lost all credible readers at "stop taxing..." We've heard that line of crap before. It's been tried. It DOES NOT WORK. This Whitman woman has a $1B net worth for a reason and I'll give you a hint: it's NOT because she practices the trickle-down idiocy she and her GOP "comrades" preach.

February 19, 2009 06:19 pm at 6:19 pm |

DIZIZI31

VOTE NO FOR MEG IN 2010

February 19, 2009 06:23 pm at 6:23 pm |

Roger from CA

What the hell would you do, Whitman???? Shut down my kid's school????

February 19, 2009 06:23 pm at 6:23 pm |

G.O.P.: When you got nothing, You got nothing to lose

After she's defeated in 2010 (probably by a rushpublican who thinks Meg is too liberal), she can join the fearless forecasters at CNBC or the Wall Street Journal.

February 19, 2009 06:25 pm at 6:25 pm |

Gene

Has anyone in the Republican Party ever heard of the phrase "It's time to pay the piper". They love spend... but they refuse to pay for their spending.. instead they just want to keep borrowing.

I'm a resident of California.. and I would be more than willing to pay a little higher sales tax if it's going to help balance the budget of the state.

Because the only solution the republicans were offering would be to lay off 30,000 workers... yeah, that'll definitely help the economy. 30,000 more people on unemployment. I have yet to hear a better solution from the Republicans.

February 19, 2009 06:27 pm at 6:27 pm |

How to stop illegal drug trafficking: Tax Cuts

Don't you know her strategy is to do nothing and let it work itself out?

February 19, 2009 06:27 pm at 6:27 pm |

Robin

With so many taxes to be raised on the people, why would anybody vote for a republican ?

February 19, 2009 06:27 pm at 6:27 pm |

C W

Mathew of Detroit writes in part: "Require the teaching of Math, Science, Reading, Writing and scrap all the other crap."

Judging from the misspellings and grammar mistakes in your post, you didn't do well in school.

Regarding "all the other crap": Our country leads in innovation precisely because we require of our school children more than just rote memorization. Creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving skills are what our kids need, in addition to math, science, reading and writing. Ask any computer engineer what they think about their counterparts trained outside the U.S., and you'll find an overwhelming majority say that, while hard workers, those who are foreign-trained lack ingenuity in their approach.

Budget cuts need to be well thought out, not just knee-jerk reactions.

February 19, 2009 06:28 pm at 6:28 pm |

MICK in MESA

Yet another "NO We Can't" obstructionist repug heard from.
Get with it Meg – tax cuts for the rich will not solve core economic problems (in CA or the US) that the GOP has largely caused.
Got real world suggestions – beside tax cuts for the rich – on how to fix all the probelms? If not, don't be a moronic conservative idealogue by just critizing other's action plans...

February 19, 2009 06:31 pm at 6:31 pm |

Jeff E.

Okay... And what exactly is Ms. Whitman's alternative? Shut down the state? Lay off workers? Cut vital services? Let the roads go upaved, leave the bridges unsafe? The GOP offers nothing but the same, tired platitudes – cut taxes, even if you don't have a paycheck from which to cut them. Great! Now how about getting out the way, so serious people can get something done.

February 19, 2009 06:34 pm at 6:34 pm |

Simon

Yes, we Republicans are obstructionists. We want to obstruct the growth of government so it doesn't continue to suck the lifeblood out of the productive sector. We want to obstruct the geometric growth of fat pensions and benefits for public employees, while those in the productive sector are squeezed by the economy and higher taxes. Unlike most Dems, we don't think big government is the solution.

February 19, 2009 06:38 pm at 6:38 pm |

Snake eyes

CALIFORNIANS PAY 1% PROPERTY TAX ON SOME OF THE MOST DESIRABLE REAL ESTATE IN THE COUNTRY. THAT'S AMONG THE LOWEST IN THE UNION. IF RESIDENTS WOULD JUST MAN UP TO PAYING A MORE REALISTIC NUMBER THEIR BUDGET WOULDNT BE INTHE TOILET YEAR AFTER YEAR.

I FOR ONE HAVE NO SYMPATHY FOR A STATE WHO INSISTS ON SHIRKING THEIR FISCAL RESPONSIBILITIES

February 19, 2009 06:40 pm at 6:40 pm |

Sniffit

And what, pray tell, would she do with a tax cut in her business? Certainly she wouldn't consider it additional profit and add it to her $1B would she? Hmmmm. I wonder why she believes in the GOP's economic theories.

February 19, 2009 06:41 pm at 6:41 pm |

Beth

Actually, I saw an interview with Meg Whitman. She is very sincere, and she loves the state of California very much. If I lived in California, I would put my love for Obama aside and listen to her ideas. She has some very good ones.

February 19, 2009 06:42 pm at 6:42 pm |

Frank, Las Vegas

Here's another republican with mush for brains. She would rather just close down the state and lay off all the state workers. Just another republican bimbo without a clue. Just say no.

February 19, 2009 06:44 pm at 6:44 pm |

Kevin

I am against the stimulus bill. Now here is what I am FOR: Not spending billions of tax dollars through the same govt thieves and misfits who just "lost" $350 billion a few months ago. That's right, I am for the govt NOT doing something, and that is a legit plan, folks. At this point, on the economy, I think the less the Fed govt does, the better it will be for all of us, including future generations.

And so much for Obama's "transparency." or did he mean we'd have that AFTER the bill was voted on and signed?? If so, is that still "transparency?"

You folks seemed to have forgotten that the federal government does not own a single nickel of resources.... everything it has or gets it confiscates from either you or your offspring by way of deficits or loans. This stimulus is NOT free, and it's NOT paid for by "the government"... it's paid for by you and me.

Morons.

February 19, 2009 06:44 pm at 6:44 pm |

Frank, Las Vegas

It will be nice to Welcome the CA state house back into the Democratic fold.

February 19, 2009 06:46 pm at 6:46 pm |

calidee

i think she has "a math problem" if she thinks we can have a balanced budget without raising taxes,

February 19, 2009 06:47 pm at 6:47 pm |

Michael Farber

It is not good enough just being the opposition party and opposing all or many of the ideas that the Democrats have put forth but rather Meg needs to giving clear and decisive alternatives to the budget that is being presented. She is awfully reminisecent of another Republican, Arnold Schwartzenegger, who also early on his career proferred empty rhetoric as solutions to California's growing problems. Fortunately, Arnold has grown up and is now very aware of the dire position California is in and that empty rhetoric does not solve these problems but rather exacerbates them. Grow up Meg!!